Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas isn’t going into a full-blown rebuild, no matter how many people suggest it.
Dubas made that abundantly clear during his media availability on Monday, giving an extremely blunt reaction toward calls for a complete rebuild in Pittsburgh.
“You can go into the mass teardown rebuild and hope you get lucky with the lottery and hope that all this happens,” Dubas said, per Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News. “But you can hope in one hand and (expletive) in the other, and see which one fills up first.”
That’s certainly one way to put it.
Dubas took over as president of hockey operations in June 2023, and has straddled the line between rebuilding and contending over the last couple of seasons. Michael Bunting, Anthony Beauvillier and Luke Schenn were all shipped off across different trade deadlines, leading many to believe he would tear it all the way down, but the general manager has never quite stuck with one process — citing the Washington Capitals’ process as one that works.
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“[Washington’s] not going to go anywhere. So, we have to haul (expletive) and catch them because they’re way ahead right now, as the standings show,” Dubas said. “… They weren’t two years ago. But they’ve done a great job in coaching, development, drafting. It’s impressive.”
The Penguins have the ninth-best odds to land the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, so they’ll continue straddling the line into the summer.
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